This literature reviews one of the best selling prescription drugs ever in history, the statins. More specifically, atorvastatin (Lipitor). Perhaps this is because the diet of the general population seems to slowly become more unhealthy by the day. After all, heart disease holds the number one spot for mortality rates. Statins are classified in the broad spectrum "heart drugs" category. Perhaps, this also contributes to the fact they are so widely used.
Those that have ever taken a pharmacology course before know that statin drugs are given to lower cholesterol. Their chemical class is HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. This means they inhibit the HMG-CoA reductase enzyme which, in turn, reducing cholesterol synthesis. As many already know, the medically correct term for "high cholesterol" is hyperlipidemia. Hyperlipidemia, along with hypertension, hyperglycemia, and smoking all severly increase the risk of developing heart disease, and more importantly, acquiring a stroke. Therefore, statin drugs are a very important part of lowering one key factor that could lead to a fatal heart condition.
Much of this article focuses on the adverse effects and side effects of statins. A few of these include muscle pains, rhabdomyolysis, cognitive loss, neuropathy, pancreatic and hepatic dysfunction, as well as sexual dysfunction. As many may already know, by far the most common reported adverse effects of statin drugs are severe generalized muscle pains and rhabdomyolysis. For a quick refresher, rhabdomyolysis is a condition in which skeletal muscle is broken down, releasing muscle enzymes and electrolytes from inside the muscle cells. The severity of these adverse effects are proved in this literature to be directly related to the dose effect, drug interactions, and genetic predispositions. The drugs known to increase muscle pain and rhabdomyolysis include drugs that increase the potency of statins, such as antifungals, cyclosporine, erythromycin, niacin, gemfibrozil, clofibrate, and CPY3A4 inhibitors. This is because these drugs often inhibit the cytochrome P450 (CYP) 3A4 system. Patients with metabolic vulnerability or dysfunction, such as those with metabolic symdrome or thyroid disease, are also at an increased risk for developing more severe muscle pains than others who lack these genetic predispositions.
This literature also reports how very little physicians are actually aware of the adverse effects these statins produce in the patients to who they have been prescribing. This is a vital factor when considering patient compliance. If these statin drugs cause patients chronic muscle pain, eventually they will cease to take them. They may or may not report this to their doctor.
In conclusion, doctors should be more informed about the drugs they are prescribing patients. Nurses should be more informed on the serious side and adverse effects of these drugs. They should do more patient education about adverse effects and when to report them. This will increase the quality of patient care, patient compliance, communication between patients and their health care providers, and reduce patient morbidity rates.
More of this...
Will lead to more of this...
And less of this...
[Statins]...
Posted by: Julia James
